How to Be Prepared for the Summertime Staycation Spending Boost

In recent years, staycations have played a major role in boosting the bottom lines of businesses across the hospitality industry, especially in the wake of the pandemic. However, hotels and restaurants aren't the only establishments benefitting from this boom. Considering that the average person spends about $1,200 (around £978) in their local area while on a seven-day staycation, retail business owners can expect to see a significant uptick in customer spending as well[1].

Taking advantage of this opportunity doesn't just entail opening your doors and hoping for the best. In fact, there are several steps retail business owners can take to ensure that they're prepared for the influx of spending from summertime staycationers. But what exactly are these steps?  Read on to find out.

What is a staycation?

A staycation, simply put, is a vacation that's spent in one's home country rather than travelling abroad. While the concept of a staycation has been around for quite some time, they've become increasingly popular in recent years, among vacationers looking to save money and avoid the hassle of travel, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

What are the benefits of staycations for retail businesses?

While local holidayers might not be staying at these establishments, retail businesses can still benefit massively from the staycation boom. Here are a few examples:

Greater customer loyalty

Since staycationers will be staying close by to where they live, there's a greater chance they'll become regulars at your business when they visit.  If you ensure they have a positive customer experience, this could lead to a consistent stream of income, especially if you're able to encourage them to visit multiple times throughout the year.

Increased foot traffic

One of the most obvious benefits of staycations for retail businesses is the increased foot traffic they can expect to see. With people spending more time in their local area, there's a good chance they'll pop into your store more often than usual. This not only gives you more opportunities to make sales but also allows you to introduce new customers to your business.

If you want to increase foot traffic in your retail business all year round, using automated business apps like NearSt can help. 

With NearSt, you can show your products on platforms your patrons already use and access insights into what close-by customers are searching for. Easily integrated with your point of sale system through the Epos Now AppStore, NearSt also displays your inventory on the most viewed selling sites, seeing your footfall figures soar.

Higher average spend

Another benefit of staycations for retail businesses is the higher average spend from customers. With people spending more time in their local area, they're likely to want to take advantage of all the activities and attractions on offer and raise your revenue as a result.

This means they'll be more inclined to make bigger or more spontaneous purchases, such as booking multiple tickets for activities or buying souvenirs to commemorate their staycation.

What are the best ways to prepare for the summertime staycation spending boost?

Now that we've gone over some of the main benefits of staycations for retail businesses, let's take a look at the steps you can take to ensure that your business is prepared for the influx of spending from summertime staycationers:

Plan promotions and package deals

With people on staycation spending more time in their locality, there's a good chance they'll be on the lookout for deals and discounts on things to do. As such, it's a good idea to plan ahead and have some staycation-specific promotions ready to go. 

This could include staycation packages with money off your souvenir range, vouchers for local attractions or restaurants, buy-one-get-one-free on tickets to local attractions or discounts on purchases made in your store. 

Adapt your opening hours

Another way to prepare for the summertime staycation boom is to adapt your opening hours to match the demand from customers. This could involve extending your opening hours during peak periods or adding additional opening days if you're usually closed on weekends.

Train your staff

Getting your staff on board with your plans is essential to ensuring that your business is prepared for the staycation spending boost. Be sure to train them on all the promotions and deals you'll be running as well as any changes to your opening hours. In addition, it's a good idea to give them a crash course in your local area so they can act as ambassadors for your business and make genuine recommendations to customers.

Prep your premises

You can't make the most of this increased spending period, without ensuring your premises are ready for the increased footfall the staycation boost brings. Readying your store could involve reconfiguring the shop floor to minimise queues, stocking up on supplies or making any necessary repairs.

Take advantage of social media

Social media is a powerful tool that can be used to reach a wide audience easily and is the perfect solution for marketing to staycationers since a large majority actually use these platforms to plan their vacations.

As such, it's important to make sure that your business is visible on popular platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Your business pages should feature real-time information on your promotions and opening hours, as well as engaging videos and high-quality picture content that showcases your products or services.

Get your inventory in order

It's crucial to make sure you have enough product on hand to accommodate an increase in customer spending, especially if you anticipate selling items that are popular.

For example, if you specialise in beachwear or outdoor gear, it's a good idea to make sure you have enough stock to cater to the demand from staycationers.

This is also a good time to take stock of your current inventory and get rid of any slow-moving items to make room for products that are more likely to sell during the staycation boom.

Optimise your online presence

Another way to reach staycationers is through your online presence. This means making sure that your website is optimised for search engine ranking and that your listings on popular directories are up-to-date.

It's also a good idea to consider running online ads that specifically target people searching for things to do in your local area. You can do this by targeting keywords related to staycations, such as "things to do on a staycation" or "staycation ideas".

Set up your business on travel booking sites

While you may not own a hotel or Bed & Breakfast, if your business isn't already listed on popular travel booking and planning sites, now's the time to get it done! This is a great way to reach staycationers who are planning their trips online and give them the information they need about your business, such as your opening hours, contact details, and location.

Stay prepared, with a powerful POS system

Point of sale systems are the backbone of retail businesses for a number of reasons. Designed to work as a complete business management system, Epos Now allows you to control all aspects of your company from one cloud-based system, and easily manage an influx of spending.

• Review auto-generated profitability reports based on individual product performance, trending items, best and worst sellers.
• Multi-award-winning inventory management that syncs sales across multiple channels and ecommerce platforms. 
• Customer management systems that save customer contact details and shopping preferences for more targeted marketing.
• Integrations with over 100 apps including marketing, accounting, bookkeeping, and loyalty program apps.